TRAIN TRAVEL GUIDE FOR RAIL TRIPS

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The Man in Seat 61 Worldwide - a guide to train travel beyond Europe
(Bantam Press) ISBN 978-0593059432 0593059433

This rail guide to international train travel, beyond Europe, answers questions like: What is the cost of a train ticket? Where can I learn about online ticket availability? Where can I buy a rail pass? What is the difference between first and second class train seats? What is the difference between soft and hard sleeper?

For train journeys spanning the Indian Railways system to the Tibet train, this rail travel book provides information on train itineraries for overland rail and scheduled trains, arrival and departure times, railway reservation systems, e-ticket booking, special fares for children, visas, food, security and toilets.

How to find cheap train tickets

In the introduction to The Man in Seat 61 Worldwide, author Mark Smith tells readers how to plan rail trips. His information on train networks is helpful and practical, e.g., how to find the best routes and how to get the cheapest train fares.

Organized by country, the rail guide provides information on North, South and Central America, Africa, Australia, Middle East, Asia and New Zealand train travel. Numerous charts list train timetables, cost of first, second and third-class seats and hard and soft sleeper berths.

Railway websites

The Man in Seat 61 Worldwide has no photos, but the travel guide has several route maps of train trips, e.g., London to India.

The back of The Man in Seat 61 Worldwide provides websites for train companies. For Russian trains, like the Trans-Siberian Railway, a chart helps you learn the Cyrillic alphabet by providing the pronunciation of Russian letters.

India train passes

For the Indian Railways system, The Man in Seat 61 Worldwide provides information on how to make online ticket reservations, how to find Indian train times, train fares for Indrail passes, air-conditioned executive chair class, sleeper class seats and other train tickets.

The 573-page book describes several India train itineraries, e.g., the Shiv Ganga Express from New Delhi, the Marudhar Express from Varanasi Junction and Agra, the Jaisalmer-Delhi Express and the Himalayan Queen from Delhi Sarai Rohilla.

Mark Smith also includes information on The Palace on Wheels, Indian Maharaja, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels and other luxury Indian trains.

The Man in Seat 61 Worldwide - a guide to train travel beyond Europe by Mark Smith

Contents

Introduction
Getting Started
  • Key Resources
  • Planning a Trip
Overland Routes from Europe to Asia
  • To China, Japan and the Far East by Trans-Siberian Railway
  • To China and Central Asia and the 'Silk Route'
  • To Pakistan and India overland
The Middle East
  • Iran
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Syria
  • Turkey
Africa
  • Botswana
  • Egypt
  • Ethiopia
  • Kenya
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Senegal and Mali
  • South Africa
  • Sudan
  • Tanzania and Zanzibar
  • Tunisia
  • Zimbabwe
Asia
  • Bangladesh
  • Burma (Myanmar)
  • Cambodia
  • China
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Japan
  • Laos
  • Malaysia and Singapore
  • Nepal
  • North Korea
  • Pakistan
  • South Korea
  • Sri Lanka
  • Taiwan
  • Thailand
  • Vietnam
The Americas
  • Canada
  • Cuba
  • Peru
  • United States
  • Other countries in Central and South America
Australasia
  • Australia
  • New Zealand
Appendices
  • Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet
  • World rail operator websites (outside Europe)
Index

Author

Mark Smith has worked as a manager for UK train companies, a rail fares and ticketing expert, and a European rail agent, issuing tickets and providing information on train travel. He also edits seat61.com.


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